


how to convince you to stay

by brilliantblindinglights (anneblacks)



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Angst, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, M/M, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anneblacks/pseuds/brilliantblindinglights
Summary: "What are you doing here?" Keefe asks tiredly. His face is half-pale in the little moonlight that reaches them, half-swathed in shadow, and he's not looking at Fitz."Looking for you," is Fitz's immediate answer. "Where are you?""Somewhere," Keefe says. "Everywhere.”Fitz shakes his head, runs a hand through his hair. "Keefe, it's beenmonths,I just--"He falters, and Keefe's expression twitches, eyebrows furrowing. "What?"Fitz doesn't know how better to put it. "Why did youleave?"Fitz visits a runaway Keefe's dreams in an attempt to get him to come back home.
Relationships: Keefe Sencen/Fitz Vacker, Sophie Foster & Fitz Vacker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	how to convince you to stay

**Author's Note:**

> the first bit of the tags: Hi I'm emotional and this took a proper hour so it's messy but the best I could do in the time frame fdhjds--I don't know how to elaborate on the setting or time this is literally just. In a world of its own bc I haven't read the books in so long, but Sophie and Fitz are still cognates (and platonic) and good at planning sleepovers at which they look for their runaway friend  
> (and also Fitz loves Keefe that's it)

It's quiet, here.

Fitz takes a deep breath and frigid cold fills his lungs as soon as he does. Shadows seem to collect in every corner--a trait Fitz might contribute to Tam if he didn't know any better, but he recognizes the grass underfoot. This is the farthest reach of Candleshade; the one place that the moon always seems to miss when it passes over, both in real life and in dreams. There's a twisting tall tree that only grows in size as he walks towards it, but he keeps walking.

When at last he stands underneath the branches, chest tightening as he stops counting how long it's been since he entered, he looks up.

"Keefe?" he calls out. It comes out quieter than he means it to be, but he hears the shift of someone sitting in the branches and remembers how Sophie's voice, weak as it was, could reach him from so far away. Softer, he tries, "Are you--are you here?"

There's a choked laugh from above, and then a weak, "This _is_ my dream."

Fitz doesn't have the energy to indulge in lightness tonight. "Can I come up?"

Keefe doesn't answer, but eventually there's more rustling and a hand reaches down, open and waiting; Fitz takes it with a breath of relief that he hopes goes unnoticed. He finds the branch Keefe is on and settles on it, unafraid of falling but still shivering with the warnings Sophie had given him when she'd found out he was doing this. She's in a corner of his head now, monitoring them with a careful mind, and Biana is in bed beside him, the steady warmth of her arm over his stomach fading away with the night air.

They're both silent for a long moment, but both of them know Fitz is here for a reason.

"What are you doing here?" Keefe asks tiredly. His face is half-pale in the little moonlight that reaches them, half-swathed in shadow, and he's not looking at Fitz.

"Looking for you," is Fitz's immediate answer. "Where are you?"

"Somewhere," Keefe says. "Everywhere.”

Fitz shakes his head, runs a hand through his hair. "Keefe, it's been _months,_ I just--"

He falters, and Keefe's expression twitches, eyebrows furrowing. "What?"

Fitz doesn't know how better to put it. "Why did you _leave?"_

Keefe scoffs, but he doesn't react otherwise--he doesn't _react._ "No one cared about me," is his offhanded explanation, and he's cold when Fitz reaches out to touch, to clutch at his sleeve.

" _I_ cared--I _care,_ " he tries, and when Keefe turns to look at him, expression masked, he thinks he sees it break open--pain and confusion and anguish--before it shutters again. " _Keefe._ "

Keefe looks away again. "What a beautiful mistake you made, then," he whispers. The world begins to close around them and Fitz can tell--he _can't_ let it end this way.

" _Never,_ " Fitz says fiercely, and his own desperation surprises him, but then again--it's Keefe. "You--loving you was never a _mistake,_ " he can feel a thread unraveling in his head, Sophie's presence suddenly vivid and choking--he's going to be pulled back in a moment, but Keefe's eyes are wide and he's getting tugged into consciousness and if there ever was a time to say it, it's now-- "I never regretted it, I never regretted _you._ And Sophie's been a wreck and Dex is overworking himself and Marella's got too much nervous energy--Keefe, I, we _need_ you."

Keefe catches his gaze with a flash of lightning-shock and terror, and for a split second Fitz thinks he's been tethered to the dream even tighter, but then he begins to feel the sheets of his bed and he whispers, " _Please_ come back."

He wakes up to angry light and Sophie's voice gently reading a book from the side of the bed, the eyes of Grizel and Sandor careful on all of them.

"' _Lightning catchers,_ ’" Sophie is reading, "' _require the skill of being quick enough to see the moment where they need to take action._ '" Her eyes flick up to him as soon as he looks at her, and she transmits, _did you convince him?_

At the same time, Biana re-enters the room with a tray full of ripplepuffs and sbiten, distracting the bodyguards enough for Sophie to shift down and take Fitz's hand.

Fitz takes a shuddering breath, wills his other hand to stop shaking, and transmits in a whisper, _I did my best._

Sophie puts down the book, shuffles her blanket over her knees and squeezes his hand with a soft sigh, looking far too tired for her own good. _That's all we can really hope for._

Biana sets the tray on his lap with a weak grin and reaches for Fitz's long hair, hairtie already slipping off her wrist; sleep is a long time coming, and they all know it good and well.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi reblog the tumblr post [here!](https://brilliantblindinglights.tumblr.com/post/632897626168262656/how-to-convince-you-to-stay-keefitz)
> 
> the last bit of the tags: Sbiten is the only warm drink I could think of but it's not from KOTLC--it's some kind of Russian drink involving berries and water?? I used it in a Marvel fic with some Russian characters that I never posted idk dude. (Sbiten is a traditional Russian drink that used to be really popular before tea and coffee! Ecosia says it tastes like fruity tea and is very good for the winter, and it's a herbal drink of some sort!)  
> also is it ripplepuffs or ripplefluffs i don't remember
> 
> Thank you for reading, if you liked it please leave a kudos and comment! Lots of love!


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